Lets be honest here. Dickey is not throwing a knuckelball at this point. Yeah he is gripping the ball in a similar fashion to a knuckler but he has way more command of it and he is throwing it a good 15-20 MPH faster than others have. This is more or less a completely new pitch and at this point hitters have no idea how to respond to it. The thing only gives 1 rotation of the seams and seems to move in random directions so hitters have no idea what to expect from it and he can throw it with velocity and with accuracy.

Ender wrote:Lets be honest here. Dickey is not throwing a knuckelball at this point. Yeah he is gripping the ball in a similar fashion to a knuckler but he has way more command of it and he is throwing it a good 15-20 MPH faster than others have. This is more or less a completely new pitch and at this point hitters have no idea how to respond to it. The thing only gives 1 rotation of the seams and seems to move in random directions so hitters have no idea what to expect from it and he can throw it with velocity and with accuracy.

I think the velocity is improving the accuracy. The ball is knuckling far enough to miss bats but not so far that it dives out of the strike zone.

For those that haven't been watching, RA actually throws two different knucklers. The one he uses the majority of the time at 78-82 mph and then a change up knucklers down around 60 that is more like a traditional knuckleball.